Method and apparatus for stemming tobacco



. 1,593,688 D. w. BRASHEAR ET AL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STEMMING TOBAGO!) Filed March 15 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS L/ 20062178 H4 fleas/0514c wN/EL W.

July 27 1926. 1,593,688

D. w. BRASHEAR ET AL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STEMMING TOBACCO Filed March 13, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 27, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,593,688 PATENT OFFICE.

DOUGLAS W. BRASHEAE, DANIEL W. ANDREWS, AND

WILLIAM M. MCCHESNEY. OF

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNORS TO THE AMERICAN TOBACCO COMPANY, OF N YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STEMMING TOBACCO.

Application filed March 13, 1925. Serial No. 15,284.

Our invention is an improvement in methods of stemming tobacco, and in apparatus for carrying out the method, and more specifically in methods and apparatus for the recovery of drops with standard stemming machines.

With the usual type of tobacco stemming or stripping machine, a large proportion of the conditioned leaves are dropped from the machine, in substantially the same condition as they entered in. This is due to several reasons, among which may be mentioned improper abutting of the leaves, failure of the grippers to grasp the stems, and broken and defective leaves. None of the machines in use will strip 100%, and usually the percentage of drops is between 30 and 40%. I

As a rule the drops are stripped manualhi, and since some time usually elapses before the manual stripping takes place, the leaves are not in the best condition for stripping. A portion of the moisture content has been lost, and the leaves are dry, so that they break easily in the manual stem ming. The method is economically unsatisfactory, not only because of the poor condition of the stripped leaf due to loss of condition, but because of the additional expense involved for the manual labor. Furthermore in manual stripping substantially all of the stem is removed and goes to waste. A large proportion of the stem, namely the finer part is perfectly good tobacco, capable of utilization for all purposes to which the lamina is put, and these parts of the stem retain a large proportion of the leaf lamina intact. The loss due to this cause is about 5%, and the stripped leaf is in poor condition, being usually torn and more or less fragmentary, and hence unsuitable for certain purposes.

So far as We are aware, it is the usual practice to care for the drops as above outlined, and one of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive method of drop recovery. wherein the losses above mentioned are eliminated.

With this and other objects in view, the invention consists in the method, and in the construction and novel combination of the parts of the'apparatus, fully described hereinafter, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims appended hereto, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion. size and minor details of construction within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side View of the apparatus for carrying out the improved method, with parts in section.

Fig. 2- is a plan view of the recovery tables.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

1n the present embodiment of the invention, the apparatus for carrying out the method is arranged on two floors of a suitable structure, a number of tobacco stemnumber of standard machines may be used,

the system being capable of expansion, limited only by floor space and like condition.

The chute 5 which carries away the drops from the standard machine, passes downward through the floor 2, and the chute of each machine delivers to a table 6 on a lower floor 7. These tables are arranged on opposite sides of a conveyor 8, in the present instance an endless belt or apron supported by rollers 9 at its ends, and intermediate its ends if necessary. The rollers are journalled in a suitable supporting frame 10 which includes a trough or gutter 10 in which the upper run of the belt or apron moves. The tables are arranged on both sides of the conveyor, those on one side being staggered with respect to those on the other side, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

Each table has a guard flange 11 on three sides thereof, and a pair of similar U shaped troughs 12 at the side remote from the conveyor, the troughs being arranged end to end, and with the outer end of each open. In practice the troughs are formed by plac ing a partition 13 transversely of a single open end trough. The chutes 5 deliver at receiving stems, and the latter is a bag, supported by a suitable holder 16 arranged between the floor and the frame 10.

Three operators are used in connection with each table, one standing at each side thereof, and the third between the table and the succeeding table. The first two operators handle the drops delivered onto the table, while the third handles the material passing before him on the conveyor. A plurality of baling ties 17 is provided for each of the first named two operators. One tic, which in the present instance is a strap having a buckle at one end is arranged transversely of each trough 12 in the bottom thereof. As the drops are delivered from the stemming machine onto the tables, the operators separate the drops from the broken parts, leaf lamina and trash, and place the leaves in the troughs with the butts in the same direction, preferably against the central partition 13. The broken leaves, fragments of lamina and trash are swept out onto the conveyor, and when a bundle or bale of sulficient size is accumulated in the trough, as for. instance 20 lbs, the tie ends are fastened, and the bale is tossed onto a second conveyor or carrier, arranged above the first, and running parallel therewith.

This carrier is constituted by an endless belt 19, supported by suitable rollers 20 in a supporting frame 21, which includes a trough 22 having flaring side walls (Fig. in which the upper run of the endless belt moves.- The third operator picks from the belt 8 broken leaves, leaf lamina and the like, and drops these fragments into the ad jacent receptacle 15. Bits of stem and other waste are dropped into the receptacle 14.

The conveyor 19 delivers by way of an inclined chute 24 forming a part of the frame 21, onto a table 25, where the bundles of recovered drops may rest a moment, prior to their reconditioning. A suitable scale 26 is arranged between the table 25 and the reconditioning apparatus to be described, by means of which the bundles may be weighed, and the operator credited therewith.

The reconditioning apparatus includes a box or chamber 27, usually about 20 feet long and 4 feet wide, into which live steam is injected, by means of suitable piping 28. An endless wire belt 29 runs longitudinally of the box, and is supported by rollers 30 journalled in the walls of the box. The bundles are delivered to the belt through an opening 31, and are carried by the belt to the opposite end of the box, where they are delivered onto an endless belt 32. This belt is supported in inclined position, by means of rollers 33 and 34, the latter being adjustable to tension the belt. Guard plates 35 are arranged at opposite sides of the upper run, and that end of the belt remote fr m the conditioning box delivers to an elevator to be described.

The elevator is constituted by an endless belt 36, supported by vertically spaced rollers 37, and upon the belt at suitable intervals are arranged buckets 38. The bales of reconditioned drops are delivered in succession into the buckets, and are carried to the upper floor 2, the elevator passing through a hatch 39 in the floor. That portion of the elevator which extends above the floor 2 is provided with a hood 40, having LII open side 41 through which the bales are delivered, over a guide plate 42 into any suitable conveyance for returning the tobacco to the stripping machine. In the present instance such means is a car 43.

The belts 8, 19 and 29 are driven from a common shaft 44 journalled in hangers 45 from the floor 2, and connected to a suitable source of power. A'belt 46 connects the shaft 44 with one of the rollers 20 of the belt 19, and shafts 47 connect the shaft with rollers 9 and 30 supporting the belts 8 and 29 respectively. The shaft 44 has a loose pulley 48 thereon which may be connected with a suitable source ofpower, and the pulley may be connected to the shaft by clutch mechanism 49 operated by a lever 50.

A screen 51 is arranged at the delivery end of the belt 8, to which the belt delivers all of the material that has not been removed therefrom by the operators between the tables, and the valuable portions of the waste may be utilized in any suitable manner. Gravity valves 52 are arranged in the box 27 near the ends of the upper run of the belt, and these valves are operated to open position by the moving bales of to bacco. V

The total saving effected by the improved method, with the use of the improved apparatus, is very large, and is due to several factors. As for instance there is a saving of approximately 20% in labor cost, 5% in tobacco yield, and in floor space a percentage which varies in accordance with many conditions, as for instance locality.

We claim:

. 1. The method of treating leaves dropped from tobacco stemming machines, which consisls in sorting out the dropped leaves arranging them in bundles, with the butts oft the leaves at the same end of the bundle, reordering the leaves in the bundle, and returning the recorded leaves to the machine.

2. The method of treating dropped leaves from tobacco stemming machines, which consists in sorting out the whole leaves arranging them with the butts in the same direction, binding the leaves into bundles, reordering the leaves in the bundles, and feeding them to the machines to be stemmed thereby.

3. Apparatus for recovering dropped leaves from a tobacco stripping machine, in-

cluding a sorting table to. which the leaves are delivered, having a holder for a bundle, of leaves arranged with their buttsin the same direction, a reconditioning device in cluding a steam chamber, and a plurality of means cooperating to transport the bundles from the sorting table to and through the chamber thereby to recondition the leaves whereby they may be returned to the machine.

4. Apparatus for recovering dropped leaves from a tobacco stripping machine. including a sortin table to which the leaves are delivered, having a holder for a bundle ofleaves arranged with their butts in the same direction, a reconditioning device including a steam chamber, a plurality of means cooperating to transport the bundles from the sorting table to and through the chamber thereby to recondition the leaves whereby they may be returned to the machine, and a traveling conveyor running alongside the table to receive the trash therefrom. i

5. Apparatus for recovering dropped leaves from a tobacco stripping machine, including a sorting table to which the leaves are delivered, having a holderfor a bundle of leavesarranged with their butts in the same direction, a reconditioning device including a steam chamber, a plurality of means cooperating to transport the bundles from the sorting table to and through the chamber thereby to recondition the leaves, a traveling conveyor running alongside the table to receive the trash therefrom, and a screen to which the conveyor delivers.

6. Apparatus for recovering dropped leaves from tobacco stripping machines, in-

cluding sorting tables in spaced relation to which the dropped leaves are delivered, a traveling-conveyor alongside the table for receiving the Waste, bundling forms for rec iving the sorted leaves and for holding them to be bundled with the butts in the same direction, a second conveyor for receiving the bundles, a steam chamber for reconditioning the leaves in the bundles,

means to receive the leaves from the last named conveyor, and carry them through the chamber, and a plurality of cooperating means to transfer the bundles of reconditioned leaves to the stripping machines.

7. In apparatus for treating drops from stripping machines, a sorting table to which the drops are delivered, said table having stemming machines, a traveling conveyor, a

plurality of sorting tables, said tables arranged on opposite sides of the conveyor in staggered relation, each having at the side remote from the conveyor a plurality of bundle formers whereby two operators may simultaneously form bundles of dropped, leaves, the conveyor adapted to receive the waste, and a second conveyor arranged above the first to transport the bundles.

10. In apparatus for recovering drops from stemming machines, a traveling conveyor, a plurality of sorting tables, said tables arranged on opposite sides of the conveyor in staggered relation, each having at the side remote from the conveyor a plurality of bundle formers whereby two operators may simultaneously form bundles of dropped leaves, the conveyor adapted to receive the waste, a second conveyor arranged abovethe first to transport the bundles, and a steam chamber to which the bundles are delivered.

Signed at Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia, this 9th day of March A. D. 1925.

noUeL As w. BRASHEAR. DANIEL w. ANDREWS. WILLIAM M. McCHESNEY. 

